Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[KMan101]

Instead of Mel and Felicia I would have much rather had seen Vicky and Amanda be recast and return then instead. 

[juppiter]

 

It honestly felt to me at the time like this couldn't happen because TPTB didn't remember where they left these characters and couldn't be bothered to check.

[j swift]

My thoughts exactly when I was watching the video

 

I was no longer a regular GL watcher by the time Mel debuted, but I thought the actress was absolutely charming.  However, the doctor into lawyer thing, SORASing her kid, and placing her in Harley's orbit seemed like such odd dramatic choices.  Also, it was amusing that there was dialogue that referenced Mel and Rick's age difference, then they SORASed their kid and made him even older (which would make Blake's twins middle-aged).   I guess her one redeeming factor as a character is that she ended up with Cyrus.

[Vee]

In theory, on paper, introducing a new black family and pairing one of them with the Bauer family's key son is a wonderful idea. The problem is that that son was Rick as played by Michael O'Leary years past his prime, and no one BTS gave two [!@#$%^&*] for Rick or the Bauers at that point, or for that new black family after five minutes.

Edited June 1, 2019 by Vee

[victoria foxton]

I loved Petronia Paley as snobby Vivian. A shame her one big story was Vivian starting up an affair with Griffin. So Gilly wouldn't unknowing sleep with her own father. 

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I love the name Melissande Boudreau. Never cared for the character. 

 

[DeeeDee]

Petronia would make a wonderful Lillie Belle recast.

[Emma1420]

 

I really liked Vivian as well.  I think she, like many characters in 1996, were a victim of the rotating writers and change in executive producers.   It stunk because I thought she was complicated, and while i think she was judgmental and at times pretty horrible, I understood why she was the way that she was.

 

But, then 1996 was a mess in general.  And the execution of stories was subpar at best.  

[j swift]

I adore these clip packages and storyline summaries that Springfielder has put together.  I find entire episodes too slow and often difficult to track.  Also, the lighting and sound quality of old episodes tend to exhaust me.  However, content like this that is curated, smart, and funny really makes me appreciate all that YT provides.  For example, a decade ago, we were listening to tiny audio clips WOST, and now someone has edited together the complete set of openings, for almost every show, in historical order.  It is a great time for vintage soap lovers, and I am truly grateful for the creativity of these edits.  I know it is old thinking to wonder how they can be monetized, and that might not be the only motivation, but it is remarkable what fans have been able to achieve.   

[Paul Raven]

Petronia Paley...elegance, class and beauty personified.

[zanereed]

 

I completely agree. It was perfectly executed as best it could be, considering that there were only three characters at that point who were on TGL that would actually *know* who Roger and Holly were: Ed, Alan, and Ross, and only Ross was still portrayed by the same actor! It could have gone so wrong, but the writing team did a stellar job in taking their time and implementing Holly back into Springfield via a SORAS'd Chrissy/Blake. And yes, Holly's haunting scream when Ed pulled back the mask to reveal it was Roger...that still gets me every time I see it.

 

The only thing I really wanted was for Mart Hulswit to be portraying Ed again at that point (I wonder if @vetsoapfan agrees with me on that one?). Peter Simon's Ed wasn't the same as Hulswit's. Hulswit was generally warm and caring, but still had a massive temper when pushed to the breaking point. It also didn't help that the writers from then on really didn't keep Ed and Roger in much the same orbit after that.

 

With that said, I really loved Roger and Maureen's friendship. Parker and Zaslow were brilliant together, and I'm very glad they were kept as friends.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Hey there, Zanereed, nice to see your post!

 

I totally agree with everything you wrote, as always. I was very grateful that TGL was revisiting the past by bringing back Roger and Holly and reigniting their tormented relationship, but I was also disappointed that we did not have Mart Hulswit in the role of Ed Bauer. Hulswit's Ed was warm and affable; filled with emotion, and capable of exhibiting both great passion and significant fury. His Ed was a force to be reckoned with. While I had adored Peter Simon as Scott Phillips on SFT, he was not a good fit in Springfield. Simon's Ed was morose and often listless. He lack spark and warmth. There was no chemistry or fire between him and Garrett's Holly or Zaslow's Roger. Having Simon in the role did weaken the overall effect of the story, IMHO.

 

I also found it weird that the show brought back Robert Milli as Adam Thorpe, and had him appear at the wedding, but then allowed him to disappear before even seeing or interacting with Zaslow's Roger. I wonder what happened there. Did Milli suddenly get sick, have a scheduling conflict, or what? Considering Adam's and Roger's often-volatile relationship of years gone by, it would have added more depth to the story to have Milli and Zaslow interact.

[Mitch]

It was a good idea...but by that time, sad to say, Rick needed to be recast..not necessarily a boring soap hunk but someone who had some charm and warmth..by this time O'Leary had relied on schtick and if it was a dramatic scene he YELLED.  They should have transitioned O'leary into production as that seems to be what he likes, and recast Rick.  Of course, I would have made Mel a lawyer to begin with, a lawyer dedicated to representing underserved populations who would have been a contrast to the Bauers and their affluent friends and enemies.

[KMan101]

 

lol that sounds about right ... it's as if they forgot they existed

[Khan]

I want to create an all-Black soap opera just to give Petronia Paley the "fierce matriarch/bitch" role she was born to play.

[DramatistDreamer]

Speaking of the Grants, I was in the Best Soap Scenes thread and got caught up in David Grant and Kat Speakes and fell down a YouTube rabbit hole with some of these episodes and this one is particularly special because it features some really sweet and charming moments between the two and you guessed it-- Kat's first time. 

The chemistry between Monti Sharp and Nia Long is just 'off the charts' wonderful here.

 

@Darn @DeeeDeeI wanted to alert you to this episode because it's pretty special.

 

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